Earbuds Round-Up

[LTNYG]

Maximum $13 (ultra budget). I bought all my flatheads <$7 so far. One exception.
I have no preferred sound signature.

Hi. Do you use Taobao? I suggest this one: https://e.tb.cn/h.65CugDoRq3MAd9l?tk=VwbweBr7ve8 CZ193

Really comfortable. Also personally prefer the sound of these than the Qian 39.

 

[thesoundandthefury]

how would you react?

 

[fidgeraldo]

DUNU Alpha 3 was warm, and I hear no warmth to them.

I hear them as (almost) bright as it can be. Clear, too...nooo warmth at all. Yup, it's pretty often people describe or hear those things differently.

I read two days ago that someone mentioned Sennheiser HD660S2 as warm-sounding.
It's the same case. To me, it's neutral and has a nice, clear sound.
If I have to choose between two, I'd say bright, not warm.
It always depends on what headphones are connected to. But, nevertheless...people hear and experience things soooo differently.

It's always 50-50% when buying on recommendation that you get what you expect.

Cheers!

 

[droenald]

This is awesome! Placed an order. Looking forward to some new buds

Great! Let us know what you think once you receive them?

 

[mt877]

Hi. Do you use Taobao? I suggest this one: https://e.tb.cn/h.65CugDoRq3MAd9l?tk=VwbweBr7ve8 CZ193

Really comfortable. Also personally prefer the sound of these than the Qian 39.

If Taobao (owned by Alibaba) introduced worldwide shopping with language and currency support instead of just for domestic China / Chinese language countries, then it might be tempting to use Taobao. Many of us end up using AliExpress (also owned by Alibaba) which is their worldwide portal with language and currency support.

Taobao has the advantage that many more products are listed, but without language support, it's often hard to navigate. Even trying to use language translation to navigate Taobao can get a bit messy. I guess if you are willing to use and pay extra fees to a Taobao agent, then it could make buying stuff from Taobao easier, but also increases the final cost of items as well. Defective returns, refunds and support is also questionable for buyers outside the intended market.

 

[droenald]

This is going to be a little off topic:
Today was a really weird day listening to earbuds. I put in my beloved DBX and everything sounded empty and basslight, emotionless and devoid of any fun, as opposed to what I feel usually with the DBX. Maybe it was also a question of listening volume, but this can only be part of the explanation.
Switched then to a DIY build with the 130r bery driver and everything sounded bassy, no punch at all and lacking treble, to be fair the bass there is good, but not very punchy... Usually I am totally fine with it though. The change of sound signature felt very extreme - a lot more so than usually when switching between those two.
The feeling of lacking treble went away very quickly, but the bass stayed unsatisfactory for the next two hours, so I ended my listening session and opted for not listening to music at all today at work, not wanting to spoil this earbud entirely for me...
Otherwise my hearing seemed to be totally normal when talking to people!
Weird things happening - Does something like that happen to you good folks as well?!?
Is that what you call "choosing transducers according to mood"?
To me this felt more like my hearing was completely different than last Friday at work. I am feeling a bit alienated by myself...

 

[ttorbic]

This is going to be a little off topic:
Today was a really weird day listening to earbuds. I put in my beloved DBX and everything sounded empty and basslight, emotionless and devoid of any fun, as opposed to what I feel usually with the DBX. Maybe it was also a question of listening volume, but this can only be part of the explanation.
Switched then to a DIY build with the 130r bery driver and everything sounded bassy, no punch at all and lacking treble, to be fair the bass there is good, but not very punchy... Usually I am totally fine with it though. The change of sound signature felt very extreme - a lot more so than usually when switching between those two.
The feeling of lacking treble went away very quickly, but the bass stayed unsatisfactory for the next two hours, so I ended my listening session and opted for not listening to music at all today at work, not wanting to spoil this earbud entirely for me...
Otherwise my hearing seemed to be totally normal when talking to people!
Weird things happening - Does something like that happen to you good folks as well?!?
Is that what you call "choosing transducers according to mood"?
To me this felt more like my hearing was completely different than last Friday at work. I am feeling a bit alienated by myself...

You could be getting sick? Having a cold can knock my hearing a tad off kilter

 

[droenald]

Maybe... I don't feel anything yet. A very slight tinnitus, but that is not alarming, I get that from time to time since beeing a teenager and it has not gotten worse since then.

 

[mt877]

how would you react?

 

[LTNYG]

If Taobao (owned by Alibaba) introduced worldwide shopping with language and currency support instead of just for domestic China / Chinese language countries, then it might be tempting to use Taobao. Many of us end up using AliExpress (also owned by Alibaba) which is their worldwide portal with language and currency support.

Taobao has the advantage that many more products are listed, but without language support, it's often hard to navigate. Even trying to use language translation to navigate Taobao can get a bit messy. I guess if you are willing to use and pay extra fees to a Taobao agent, then it could make buying stuff from Taobao easier, but also increases the final cost of items as well. Defective returns, refunds and support is also questionable for buyers outside the intended market.

Yeah I'm from SEA, so folks like myself are fortunate to have easy access to Taobao and thus, the amount of awesomeness. I will also admit that being able to read at least basic Chinese is also a big advantage. Just like Japan as another example, regardless of efforts being made to be able to deal with potential foreign customers, for me, there is always a barrier between two different languages tbh.

As someone who had used both Aliexpress and Taobao, I have had my shares of unpolite and downright shady sellers to the point I have removed both apps. Reinstalled Taobao just to look up for new stuff casually and despite being easier to deal with, I don't think I would really want to go back to Ali anymore in the future if possible.

 

[mt877]

Yeah I'm from SEA, so folks like myself are fortunate to have easy access to Taobao and thus, the amount of awesomeness. I will also admit that being able to read at least basic Chinese is also a big advantage. Just like Japan as another example, regardless of efforts being made to be able to deal with potential foreign customers, for me, there is always a barrier between two different languages tbh.

As someone who had used both Aliexpress and Taobao, I have had my shares of unpolite and downright shady sellers to the point I have removed both apps. Reinstalled Taobao just to look up for new stuff casually and despite being easier to deal with, I don't think I would really want to go back to Ali anymore in the future if possible.

I've only had two bad experiences on Ali. The first one was when I bought some DIY earbud shells and the store sent me all right side shells. After some message exchange and pictures, the issue was resolved and they sent me the left side shells. Since Ali sellers don't ship out anything without an order, I had to buy a $1.00 shipping option to get the shells shipped though.

The second time, I bought a portable tube amp and one of the channels had no sound. All the seller did was send me in circles trying to troubleshoot the problem, basically wasting my time until the Ali return period would expire. I ended up requesting an Ali return. Within a couple days Ali approved the return and provided a free return shipping label to a US warehouse. After they confirmed the amp was received, Ali gave me a full refund. Fortunately everything worked out okay in both cases.

 

[Narayan23]

The Fiio JF11 is smaller than the MX500 shell type and about the same size as the NiceHCK YDSmall and Qian39 you mentioned.
Sorry, but I can't think of any other small ultra budget flatheads recommendations.

The Fiio FF1 are more comfortable to me and feel smaller on the ear vs the JF11, they also sound better, less lean (mind you I have barely listened to the JF11 because I didn´t like them out of the box).

 

[samandhi]

Is that what you call "choosing transducers according to mood"?
To me this felt more like my hearing was completely different than last Friday at work.

Both are true. I often go through this. That is why I will often recommend people have different sound signatures in their head gear. Mine (hearing) can change from hour to hour.

Sometimes I am just not happy with any of my earbuds, so I will switch to headphones or IEMs (or vice versa). This is a caveat of having the ability to criticically listen IMO (sometimes you just can't turn it off, no matter how much you want to).

The Fiio FF1 are more comfortable to me and feel smaller on the ear vs the JF11, they also sound better, less lean (mind you I have barely listened to the JF11 because I didn´t like them out of the box).

I think that the FF1 have gotten a bit of a bad rap on here IMHO. While they aren't ultra budget, for all the accessories you get for the price (even a free USB-C dongle, albeit not a very good one), i think these are super cheap. And the sound is only not that good when comparing to TOTL buds. But for a budget set, they have excellent sound.

On top of all that they have NO offensive hot spots in their tuning. They have a full rich and bassy sound to them. They really only suffer from sub par technicalities (though not all). Until I got the D08 and HB1, I have considered them to be a budget king.

 

[mt877]

I found this post from a Chinese audio forum about the Temperamant DM7 and DM7Ti buds. After a Chinese to English translation, it was a good read.

The main jist is that the DM7Ti is an excellent flagship earbud. The lower cost DM7 is no slouch either, comparing in sound quality to the Temperament DBX.

Enjoy the read.

Spoiler: A feast for flat head plug lovers, DM7Ti unboxing and first test

http://erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2353117&extra=page=2

Full text and photo credits to the author: callhxc

Today I got the Kaisheng DM7 and DM7Ti. I was so excited to unbox them that I forgot to take photos. Let me first say the conclusion: From what I heard, the quality of Kaisheng's DM7Ti is the ceiling of the new generation of flat-head earphones that surpasses the Titanium Bell Plus! Of course, the listening experience of the two is different. It is easier to hear the 7Ti on a portable device, the vocals are closer, the details are richer, especially in terms of analysis, sound field, and separation, which obviously surpass the Titanium Bell Plus. I haven't tried to compare the two on a desktop computer yet. I think the cheap DM7 is more like the successor of the Titanium Bell Plus style, and it is easier to drive. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is an easy-to-drive and flat replacement version of the Titanium Bell Plus. The limited edition and high-priced Titanium Bell cannot be bought, and buying the regular version of DM7 will definitely satisfy you.

Well, I admit that I am a HIFI guy. I have dabbled in desktop computers, speakers, big headphones, walkmans, and flat-head plugs, but my love for walkmans and flat-head plugs is engraved in my bones and lingering. Walkmans are portable and playable, and the sound quality is getting closer and closer to entry-level desktop devices. The domestic bricks have climbed to the top in terms of thrust, leaving Sony, iRiver and other foreign bricks far behind. Of course, the price is also rising. In-ear earplugs are the absolute mainstream at present, but for an old man who started with Aiwa V141, no matter how high-end the in-ear plugs are, they can't replace the loose and natural listening experience of flat-head plugs. Unfortunately, there are too few flat-head plugs in production, and even fewer that satisfy me. As a last resort, I can only look for old plugs that were once classics, but now the price is skyrocketing: V99, D9, HV100, 282, 484, V14, etc. Although it sounds convincing, the quality is indeed rare to reach the modern level. It wasn't until a few years ago that I heard the Titanium Bell Plus from Kaisheng at Dehai Jiye that I was amazed! And since they only make flat-head dynamic earphones, I have been determined to buy Kaisheng Plus, and the Titanium Bell Plus has also been my main earphone in recent years. After that, I bought DBX and X6 one after another, and I had different feelings when listening to them in turn.

Let's talk about the two protagonists this time: the latest DM7 and DM7Ti, the regular version is less than 1,000 yuan, and the titanium version is close to 6,000 yuan, which is definitely not cheap. The shape is similar to the classic CM7 of Audio-Technica. I don't know whether the sound is similar, but the quality is definitely improved across the century. In order to compare DM7, I took out DBX and Titanium Bell Plus, and chose the digital turntable V3-D and the decoding headphone amplifier TR-AMP in the front end for comparison under single-end. It can be said that the listening experience of the regular version of DM7 is excellent, which is what I think is the sound of fever reduction, and DBX is close to it in quality. As soon as I put on the titanium version of DM7, a huge amount of details and an expanded sound field came to my face. The singer's voice was like singing in my ear, and the sibilance control was just right, which made me unable to extricate myself. The dynamics were huge, mellow and slightly warm, strong, too strong. Then put on the Titanium Bell Plus, it was still majestic and balanced, but the high frequency seemed to be missing a part, and the details also needed a little effort to find. Comparing back and forth is tiring, but not boring. Many people don’t understand the hobby of HIFI guys, but in fact, it’s just for fun. . . . That’s all for now. There’s a long way to go. I hope more people will listen to this plug. Friends in Beijing can go to Dehai to try it out.

 

[samandhi]

I found this post from a Chinese audio forum about the Temperamant DM7 and DM7Ti buds. After a Chinese to English translation, it was a good read.

The main jist is that the DM7Ti is an excellent flagship earbud. The lower cost DM7 is no slouch either, comparing in sound quality to the Temperament DBX.

Enjoy the read.

Spoiler: A feast for flat head plug lovers, DM7Ti unboxing and first test

http://erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2353117&extra=page=2

Full text and photo credits to the author: callhxc

Today I got the Kaisheng DM7 and DM7Ti. I was so excited to unbox them that I forgot to take photos. Let me first say the conclusion: From what I heard, the quality of Kaisheng's DM7Ti is the ceiling of the new generation of flat-head earphones that surpasses the Titanium Bell Plus! Of course, the listening experience of the two is different. It is easier to hear the 7Ti on a portable device, the vocals are closer, the details are richer, especially in terms of analysis, sound field, and separation, which obviously surpass the Titanium Bell Plus. I haven't tried to compare the two on a desktop computer yet. I think the cheap DM7 is more like the successor of the Titanium Bell Plus style, and it is easier to drive. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is an easy-to-drive and flat replacement version of the Titanium Bell Plus. The limited edition and high-priced Titanium Bell cannot be bought, and buying the regular version of DM7 will definitely satisfy you.

Well, I admit that I am a HIFI guy. I have dabbled in desktop computers, speakers, big headphones, walkmans, and flat-head plugs, but my love for walkmans and flat-head plugs is engraved in my bones and lingering. Walkmans are portable and playable, and the sound quality is getting closer and closer to entry-level desktop devices. The domestic bricks have climbed to the top in terms of thrust, leaving Sony, iRiver and other foreign bricks far behind. Of course, the price is also rising. In-ear earplugs are the absolute mainstream at present, but for an old man who started with Aiwa V141, no matter how high-end the in-ear plugs are, they can't replace the loose and natural listening experience of flat-head plugs. Unfortunately, there are too few flat-head plugs in production, and even fewer that satisfy me. As a last resort, I can only look for old plugs that were once classics, but now the price is skyrocketing: V99, D9, HV100, 282, 484, V14, etc. Although it sounds convincing, the quality is indeed rare to reach the modern level. It wasn't until a few years ago that I heard the Titanium Bell Plus from Kaisheng at Dehai Jiye that I was amazed! And since they only make flat-head dynamic earphones, I have been determined to buy Kaisheng Plus, and the Titanium Bell Plus has also been my main earphone in recent years. After that, I bought DBX and X6 one after another, and I had different feelings when listening to them in turn.

Let's talk about the two protagonists this time: the latest DM7 and DM7Ti, the regular version is less than 1,000 yuan, and the titanium version is close to 6,000 yuan, which is definitely not cheap. The shape is similar to the classic CM7 of Audio-Technica. I don't know whether the sound is similar, but the quality is definitely improved across the century. In order to compare DM7, I took out DBX and Titanium Bell Plus, and chose the digital turntable V3-D and the decoding headphone amplifier TR-AMP in the front end for comparison under single-end. It can be said that the listening experience of the regular version of DM7 is excellent, which is what I think is the sound of fever reduction, and DBX is close to it in quality. As soon as I put on the titanium version of DM7, a huge amount of details and an expanded sound field came to my face. The singer's voice was like singing in my ear, and the sibilance control was just right, which made me unable to extricate myself. The dynamics were huge, mellow and slightly warm, strong, too strong. Then put on the Titanium Bell Plus, it was still majestic and balanced, but the high frequency seemed to be missing a part, and the details also needed a little effort to find. Comparing back and forth is tiring, but not boring. Many people don’t understand the hobby of HIFI guys, but in fact, it’s just for fun. . . . That’s all for now. There’s a long way to go. I hope more people will listen to this plug. Friends in Beijing can go to Dehai to try it out.

Very interesting indeed.

And wow! Dynamics being too strong?! Must be one of those things that just doesn't translate well. Hehe